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Alexander Siddig
Alexander Siddig (born November 21, 1965) is an actor best known for his portrayal of Julian Bashir on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appeared as Dr. Bashir on Star Trek: The Next Generation in the episode "Birthright, Part I". Biography He was born as Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi in the Sudan, in Northern Africa, but spent most of his life in Great Britain where he attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. His uncle on his mother's side is actor Malcolm McDowell; another uncle, on his father's side, was once the prime minister of Sudan. When he began acting, he adopted a shortened version of his name, Siddig El Fadil. He then changed his acting credit to Alexander Siddig at the start of the fourth season, reportedly because people had difficulty pronouncing his birth name. His directorial credits remained as El Fadil for the two DS9 episodes he directed: "Business as Usual" and "Profit and Lace". A union between Siddig and his Deep Space Nine co-star Nana Visitor produced a son, Django El Tahir El Siddig. Visitor's pregnancy was covered up on-screen by having the unborn child of the married Keiko O'Brien (played by Rosalind Chao) transplanted to the womb of Visitor's character, the unmarried Kira Nerys. Django was born on 16 September 1996, during production on the DS9 episode "Let He Who Is Without Sin...". Siddig and Visitor were married on 14 June the following year. The two divorced in 2001, two years after Deep Space Nine left the airwaves. Career Siddig first appeared to television audiences as Prince Feisal in the 1990 made-for-TV sequel to Lawrence of Arabia entitled A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia. When auditions came for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1994, Siddig was originally considered for the role of Benjamin Sisko, but was reportedly deemed too young for the role. Following the end of Deep Space Nine in 1999, Siddig began starring in major motion pictures. In 2000, he appeared as an ill-fated mountain climber in Vertical Limit. Two years later, he had a role in the fantasy action film Reign of Fire, alongside Trek guest star Alice Krige (the two did not share any scenes together). He went on to star in two major films in 2005: Ridley Scott's epic Kingdom of Heaven and Stephen Gaghan's highly-acclaimed Syriana. His performance as reformist Arabian Prince Nasir Al-Subaai in the latter film has garnered Siddig much praise and even early talks of a possible Oscar nomination. Syriana also stars fellow Trek performers Christopher Plummer, Robert Foxworth, and David Clennon. He will next appear in the biblical drama The Nativity Story, detailing the birth of Jesus Christ. This will be followed by the war epic The Last Legion, set during the last days of the Roman Empire. On stage, Siddig appeared with Kim Cattrall (Valeris in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) in a production of the play Whose Life Is It Anyway in 2005. Although starring primarily in films and on stage, Siddig continues to occasionally perform for television. In 2005, he lent his voice to the "Patriot Games" episode of Family Guy, an animated series created by Trek fan Seth MacFarlane. And in 2006, he starred as the title role in the BBC television movie Hannibal. Most recently, Siddig joined the cast of the hit FOX TV series 24, on which he will have a recurring role as a villain. Appearances *DS9 ** All episodes except "Paradise", "Blood Oath", "Destiny", and "For the Uniform" *TNG **Birthright, Part I Additional roles Directorial Credits *DS9: **"Business as Usual" **"Profit and Lace" Trivia He goes by the nickname of "Sid". He is 6'0" tall. He reportedly aspires to be a director. Interestingly, his character in Vertical Limit was named Kareem Na'z'''ir while his character in ''Kingdom of Heaven is called Na's'''ir. In ''Syriana, he starred as an unrelated character also named Nasir. Both of the latter films were set in the Middle East. There is a character in Siddig's Kingdom of Heaven named "Odo" (played by Jouko Ahola). There is, of course, a character with the same name (played by Rene Auberjonois) on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. External Links * Official Website * * * Alexander Siddig at TV.com Siddig, Alexander Siddig, Alexander Siddig, Alexander Siddig, Alexander de:Alexander Siddig es:Alexander Siddig